A Young Woman's Heart

"Okay, it's good to try everything, it's good to develop in different directions."

"Um... Oh, right, I'll talk to your mom about it."

"Ah."

What Wang Jiale's father wanted to talk about wasn't her joining the band, but rather buying a bass guitar.

That's right, Wang Jiale's mother still manages the money at home.

She is also the accountant for Wang Jiale's transportation company...

"Hey, honey, I'd like to buy Lele a new bass, is that okay?"

"Why did you suddenly decide to buy a bass?"

“The school is forming a band, and she wants to be the bassist. She studied guitar for a year before, so she should be able to do it, albeit barely.”

"How much are you planning to spend? Is a budget of two thousand enough?"

"Give me some more," Wang Jiale's father said shamelessly. "If you're going to buy something, buy something better."

"Then it's two thousand five, that's the most I can do."

"Okay." He hung up the phone and smiled at Wang Jiale, who was walking beside him, "Your mother is only willing to give a budget of two thousand."

"Hey, Dad! I heard everything, it's two thousand five!"

"Huh? It's two thousand five? Oh right, hahaha..."

"Don't even think about pocketing it!"

In the end, Wang Jiale chose a pink and white bass. After some bargaining, plus discounts and coupons, he finally bought it for 2,600 yuan.

Not only did her father fail to embezzle the money, he also had to pay an extra 100 yuan.

"Sigh, my secret stash of money..."

"I'm already being nice by not telling Mom you were hiding money, hmph, this is the bribe money." Wang Jiale hugged her bass bag, swinging her legs excitedly, occasionally opening the zipper to peek inside before zipping it back up.

"Haha, look at you, you're still like a child."

"Pink and white! This is so pretty, I've never seen this color combination before, of course I like it."

Will it still be played?

"Hmm... I've probably forgotten most of it." Wang Jiale stuck out her tongue. "It's okay, it's okay. As long as I start practicing, I should get used to it again. Besides, they even gave me a self-study bass book! I can get back to the feel of it by looking at it more!"

"Keep up the good work. Do you still need to sign up for piano lessons this year?"

"Um... a piano lesson... um... um..." Wang Jiale hesitated, biting her finger. "Maybe I shouldn't go? The last lesson is already over."

"Another case of giving up halfway through..."

"Who said that? I practice at home too! Hmm... but I mainly practice bass, of course~"

"Haha, it's nothing, I was just saying. As long as you think it's okay, it's fine."

"Mmm, Daddy's the best!"

"Hahaha--"

……

"Mom! Sign it!!" Hua Yinyin slammed the notification in front of her mother, completely ignoring her father who was eating next to her.

"What is this? What is this autograph? Why won't you let me sign it? Does my daughter not like me anymore?"

"I've never liked you, okay?" Hua Yinyin glanced at him sideways. "Hurry up, Mom."

"Okay, okay." Hua Yinyin's mother glanced at it casually, seemingly having read the whole thing. At the very least, she knew that a band was being formed and that school would be ending later. But without even asking any questions, she simply signed her name on the reply slip below.

"Okay!" Hua Yinyin took back the receipt and walked towards her room. "I'll put it in my schoolbag so I don't forget to bring it."

"Good luck forming a band!" Hua Yinyin's mother said rather perfunctorily, continuing to eat sunflower seeds and watch TV.

"A band?" Her father seemed puzzled.

"Yes."

"Are you going to form a band?"

"Ah."

"Oh! Not bad! Yinyin, keep it up!"

"Hehe, of course I'll do my best! And I'm the band's leader! Even though I haven't been officially elected yet, I'm definitely the leader!"

"Not bad, not bad."

"Not bad, not bad."

"Ugh—what a perfunctory response!"

……

"So you finally chose to go to the humanities program?" Mr. Xue's father asked with a smile.

"Yes, Dad, I've decided to join the band."

"Oh? It's a band?" Mr. Xue's father was somewhat surprised.

“Yes,” Mr. Xue said with a warm smile, “I’m in charge of the suona and the bamboo flute.”

"A suona? Haha! It would be quite interesting if there was a suona in the band!"

"Yes."

Do you have a notification slip?

"Here."

“Okay, let me see, um…” Mr. Xue’s father signed his name first, then looked at it carefully. “I understand it roughly. Go ahead and do it. Don’t worry about the grades! There are always many things in life that are more important than a little bit of achievement. As long as you can get into university, that’s all that matters.”

"Okay, thank you, Dad."

……

"I wonder if they even showed the notice to their parents properly?" Ye Wen muttered, legs crossed, as she picked up her phone. "Shouldn't they call and ask about it...?"

……

Chapter Twelve: Zhou Yong's Vision

On Monday morning, Zhou Yong sat at the connecting point of the extended bus, swaying gently with the movement of the bus.

Although the teachers did not assign any homework on Friday, they simply asked students who had not yet finished their summer homework to complete it over the weekend.

But last night, Zhou Yong still had a little trouble sleeping.

It wasn't really insomnia, but my brain was too active, and I was thinking about too many things, so even though I lay down at nine o'clock, I didn't actually fall asleep until midnight.

This made him very regretful. If he had known this would happen, he would have watched more TV. It would have been better than lying in bed unable to sleep and wasting time, right?

At 6:30 in the morning, the bus was neither too crowded nor too empty. There were still some seats available, but the remaining seats were not the best ones.

For example, there is no window at the connection point between the carriages.

"Ha...ha—ah—ha—" Zhou Yong opened his mouth wide and 'ah'ed for a long time, but he couldn't yawn. Instead, he felt suffocated and uncomfortable. He kept his mouth open for a while before he finally yawned comfortably. His face was covered with physiological tears caused by yawning.

Ever since he met Mo Xueyao on the bus, he often hoped to run into her again here.

But such chance encounters are rare, so most of the time he can only dream about them.

It's not that he would do anything if he met her; it's just that bumping into her on the bus would make him feel especially good all day.

Everyone dreams about the future. Some of these dreams are beautiful expectations for the future, while others are unrealistic fantasies.

It is precisely because of the ordinariness of life that the self we imagine becomes so extraordinary.

At that moment, Zhou Yong wondered if he were a rich man who was also handsome, then he could bring home any girl he liked.

Don't assume that ordinary people aren't fickle. Most of them aren't fickle simply because they don't have the opportunity. They've had many girls they liked in their hearts.

But no matter what, it's just a thought. Thinking isn't illegal. After all, nobody knows if those who have secretly liked many girls are actually like that in real life.

Perhaps the opposite is also true.

After all, it's just wishful thinking, fantasy... just wild thoughts.

"Musical instruments... I wish I were good at playing musical instruments." Zhou Yong muttered to himself while munching on a sticky rice ball. "The teacher is selecting so many students who are good at musical instruments, is it to form a band...? I heard from Brother Chan that there are quite a few bands in college..."

Zhou Yong suddenly caught the fried dough stick that fell out of the glutinous rice ball with lightning speed, and continued to mutter to himself, "If it really is a band, and if I'm good at it too, wouldn't I be able to be in a team with Mo Xueyao? Hmm... and then play instruments together..."

At this moment, he began to imagine himself as a senior professional being asked by Mo Xueyao for advice on music theory.

As he thought of this, a grin involuntarily spread across his face, and his nonsensical daydreams continued.

He had even imagined that Mo Xueyao would be moved by his charm and take the initiative to confess her feelings to him. He had even thought of several possible scenarios when she confessed her feelings.

Some are shy, some are assertive, and some are calm.

Of course, he also wondered if it was inappropriate for the girl to confess her feelings, so he would imagine how she would react if he were the one to confess.

Since he was going to succeed anyway, in his fantasy world, he would never fail.

That feeling of invincibility made him extremely excited, and it was also the culprit behind his insomnia last night.

But the most important thing is not getting lost in endless daydreams, but stepping out of those daydreams.

"...We have arrived. Passengers getting off the bus, please take your belongings with you and use the pedestrian crossing when you disembark..."

The announcement of arrival at the destination jolted Zhou Yong out of his reverie. He still had half a glutinous rice ball left in his hand, which had already cooled down.

"Phew..." He walked off the platform with a sense of loss, took a deep breath of the cool morning air, and couldn't help but look at the corner mirror not far away.

The person in the mirror is an ordinary-looking boy. Although he is wearing a Western-style school uniform, he has no elegant temperament at all, and his eyebrows and brows are somewhat silly and rustic.

He doesn't look like the invincible man he imagined at all.

Involuntarily, the face of the man in my imagination was replaced by Mr. Xue's appearance.

Yes... the one who is 'omnipotent' is not him, but someone else.

He has always been an observer, not the center of the story.